APEC working groups discuss growth and human development issues

Participants of 40 APEC working groups’ meetings to be held in February 2016 will discuss new, cross-cutting policies for ensuring “Quality Growth and Human Development”. The proceedings of the two weeks meetings will culminate with the First APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM1) on March 3-4, 2016.
According to Ambassador Luis Quesada, Chair of the 2016 APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting, “We are experiencing challenges in the global economy, which affects growth in the region and how APEC approaches its agenda.” “APEC’s challenge is to take policies for building trade and sustainable, resilient economies across the Asia-Pacific to the next level,” he explained. “Our agenda is focused on positioning the region’s 3 billion people to take advantage of new economic opportunities stemming from the delivery of higher quality growth.”
Initiatives to be taken forward in Lima include APEC’s collective strategic study on issues related to the realization of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), environmental services development, regulatory reform for improving the ease of doing business, and policies to make it easier, cheaper and faster for people and goods to move throughout the region.
Boosting electronic commerce, small business participation in trade, and defense against corruption, increasing disaster risk due to climate change and emerging health threats like the Zika virus will be among other points of emphasis.
Officials will also consider recommendations to come out of the first APEC Business Advisory Council meeting in 2016 in San Francisco, United States on February 24-28, 2016.
Press-release at the official APEC web-site